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Sonia Gandhi demands govt to conduct population census at earliest
Feb-10-2025

Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi urged the Centre to conduct the long-overdue population census without further delay, claiming that around 14 crore people in the country are being deprived of the benefits under the food security law.

During the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Sonia Gandhi said beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) are being identified as per the 2011 Census, and not the latest population numbers. She called the NFSA introduced by the UPA government in September 2013 a landmark initiative aimed at ensuring food and nutritional security for the country's 140 crore population. 

Sonia Gandhi added that the legislation played a crucial role in protecting millions of vulnerable households from starvation, particularly during the Covid-19 crisis. Referring to the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, she said that this Act also provides the basis for this scheme. She said that the quota for the beneficiaries is still determined based on the 2011 Census, which is now well over a decade old. Under the NFSA, Gandhi said, 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the urban population are entitled to receive subsidised food grains.

Senior Congress leader further said that this is the first time in the history of independent India that the census, which is conducted every 10 years, has been delayed more than four years. She said that the census was to be conducted in 2021 itself, but till now there is no clarity about when it will be conducted. She also claimed that the Budget allocations show that the updated census is unlikely to be conducted this year. Gandhi asserted that food security is not a privilege. It is a fundamental right.


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